An empirical investigation into the determinants and persistence of different types of subjective well-being

A comparison of three measures of subjective well-being indicates two areas of difference. First, life evaluation is less dependent on external circumstances than evaluation of the past year. Temporary changes in health, labor market status and income have a smaller impact on life evaluation than on evaluation of the past year. Second, measures concerning the whole life exhibit a significant positive relation between current and past levels of well-being, but there is no such relation in case of evaluation of the past year. Moreover, external factors have a greater impact on the emotional dimension of life evaluation than on cognitive.